Who knew by moving your body in certain ways you can change your mood from downbeat to upbeat?

Try these moves when you next need a mood boost and it'll help you become more body positive.

From standing up tall to nodding you head, research from the world's top universities has given us ten ways to feel better.

Be a Wonder Woman

Harvard University researchers found adopting a ‘high power’ pose for just two minutes can increase levels of testosterone (in both sexes) by 20% and decrease levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) by 25%.

High levels of testosterone lead to increased confidence and low levels of cortisol mean less anxiety.

Stand with your hands on your hips, legs astride with your chest forward for two minutes at the start of the day, or when you need a boost.

Stand strong and proud - just like a Wonder Woman (Image: Internet Unknown)

Pop a pencil between your teeth

This manipulates your face into mimicking a smile, which, says a study, can help lower stress levels.

Kansas University researchers asked volunteers to hold chopsticks between their teeth in different ways then asked them to perform stressful tasks. The heart rates of those who ‘smiled’ recovered more quickly than the straight-faced participants.

Bust a five-minute dance move

Even having a five minute dance can help (Image: Digital Vision)

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Next time you need a mood boost…try strutting your stuff. Researchers at York and Sheffield Universities played music to volunteers for five minutes, asking people to either sit and listen to the music, to cycle on an exercise bike or to dance.

The group who boogied on down showed improvements in mood and were better able to solve problems in tests.

Shoulders back!

According to posture experts and cognitive scientists, not only does our mind influence how we hold our body, but how we hold our bodies also influences our mind and moods.

Using an old tie or dressing gown strap, hold it overhead with your hands wide apart. Drop your hands forwards so the strap is in front of your chest, then lift it so it is behind your head. Repeat four times. Then, remaining standing, raise your strap or tie with your hands wide. Bend your arms until they form a 90-degree angle and draw your elbows back.

Hug yourself

People who are kind to themselves are much less likely to be depressed and more likely to be happy, says Dr Kristin Neff, author of Self Compassion.

Stick out your tongue

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Many of us hold stress in our jaw – when we’re anxious we clench our teeth and this make us feel more tense and gives us headaches.

The Lion’s Breath is a yoga move to help loosen your jaw and ease anxiety. Sit and place your hands with fingers outstretched on your knees. Inhale through the nose and, on the exhale, stick out your tongue, pointing it to your chin, and raise your gaze up. Repeat five times.

Nod your head

If you’re doubting yourself, just nod your head. A psychology study at Ohio State University found that if we shake our head ‘no’ while saying a statement, we don’t believe what we are saying. Yet if we nod our heads ‘yes’ we gain confidence in our thoughts – and in ourselves.

Sit up straight

Another study from Ohio State University showed that sitting with a straight back can make you feel more upbeat. Researchers asked people to either sit up straight or slouch at a desk and write down three positive and three negative personal qualities relating to how well qualified they were for a job.

The people who slouched were less likely to believe positive things about themselves than the others who were posture perfect.

Walk ‘happy’

Research shows you could banish a gloomy mood by imitating a happy walk.

A study in the Journal of Behaviour Therapy and ­Experimental Psychiatry asked people to change their walking styles on a treadmill to try to move a bar in one direction or another on a screen. Walking in a ‘happy’ way made the bar move one way and walking ‘depressed’ moved it the other.

Results showed ‘happy walkers’ remembered more positive words they were given than those who walked in a downbeat way (and who remembered more negative words).